Cords may seem like an unusual subject for a GraceLife article, but I think you will find this one interesting and important as we consider the life God has given us.

Ancient Cords

Cords have been used for thousands of years to connect things, animals, and people. Ancient people also used cords to measure distances and for accounting purposes.

Cords were made of many types of natural materials including papyrus, flax, hemp, reeds, thick grasses, date palms, strips of tree bark, animal hair, and leather. Ancient people would twist these natural materials by hand or use tools they made from wood or animal bones.

We see the use of cords in the Bible for both connecting and binding. The Hebrew word aboth (cord) comes from the word abath, which means “to wind, to weave.” You will see the word aboth used in Exodus chapters 28 and 39 concerning the making of the priestly garments. The word is used in Judges 15 concerning the attempt to “bind” Samson. It is also used in the Psalms and Writings of the prophets about how Israel’s enemies would use ropes to bind the Jewish people.

The only time we find the word “cord” (schoinion) in the New Testament is when Jesus made a whip of cords and drove sellers of sheep and oxen, and money changers out of the Temple (John 2).

However, in this article I want to look at two unique ways that cords are used in the context of physical and spiritual life.

Connection to Physical Life

The umbilical cord is the important physical connection between an unborn child and his or her mother. Your navel (aka belly button) is a continual reminder of that connection to your mother.

According to the National Library of Medicine the umbilical cord development begins in the embryologic period about week three. The cord is fully formed by week seven. The umbilical cord is the lifeline for the unborn child. One of the three blood vessels in the cord carries oxygen-rich blood and nutrition from the mother to the baby. The other two blood vessels carry waste from the baby back to the mother.

As King David wrote, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), and for that we praise God. The Lord “formed” our inward parts, which included the umbilical cord. The lifeline cord is one of the great designs from God’s creation. He designed it to attach from mother to child at the exact time the baby would need it for development and growth.

Interestingly, God use the umbilical cord to show Israel its abominations. The Hebrew word for the navel (umbilical) cord is shor.

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: ‘Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born. Ezekiel 16:1-5

The only other place the word shor is used is in Proverbs 3:8 —

It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

Most English Bibles use the words “flesh” or “body” to translate shor, but the KJV uses the word “navel.”

Most people should be familiar with an umbilical cord since most have a “navel” or “belly” button. However, there is another important life cord in the Bible that may be less familiar. It’s the “silver cord.”

Connection to Spiritual Life

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:6-8

The Hebrew words for “silver cord” are chebel keseph. The context is remembering our Creator before the silver cord is “loosed.” The Hebrew word is rachaq and means “to be or become far or distant.” What is the “silver cord” and how could it become “far or distant?”

The idea of each person having a “silver cord” has been around for thousands of years. Many ancient people believed even as the umbilical cord connected the unborn child to its mother for physical life, the silver cord was a spiritual connection for a person’s soul. The question is connected to what?

Some ancient people believed the silver cord (also known as life thread, consciousness thread) connected the higher self (soul) to the lower self (physical body), to the ethereal body, the astral body, and the mental body. The cord was viewed as elastic and silver in color. Some ancient people believed they could travel outside of their body using the silver cord. That became known as astral travel or an “out-of-body experience.” Though small string-like portions of the cord could break, the cord would remain connected to the physical body until death. It was the death of the physical body that would then “loose” the silver cord and allow it to become far or distant.

Some Jewish scholars believe the silver cord Solomon mentioned was the spinal cord and that breaking it would end a person’s life. Some viewed the golden bowl breaking, the pitcher shattering at the fountain, and the wheel breaking at the well referring to the failure of the head, heart, and lungs which would lead to death.

Keep in mind that King Solomon of Israel is most likely the author of Ecclesiastes.

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Ecclesiastes 1:1

God gave Solomon great wisdom, greater than any other person:

And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. 1 Kings 4:29-30

The wisdom God gave Solomon included insights to the both the physical and spiritual worlds. He understood life to the point that people traveled from many countries just to hear him teach about the natural and supernatural world.

For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon. 1 Kings 4:31-34

Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her … Then she said to the king: ‘It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. 1 Kings 10:1-3, 6-7

When we read Ecclesiastes, we are reading the thoughts of an older King Solomon. He had lived a long life that included both the wisdom God had given him and the sin nature that deeply plagued him. He had learned many things, but made many serious errors. By the time Solomon reached the end of his writing of Ecclesiastes (“Preacher” – Koheleth), he brought his message to a close by telling his readers to “remember.”

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come … Ecclesiastes 12:1

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed … Ecclesiastes 12:6

Solomon was calling on people to remember God in their youth and near their death. That’s wise advice since so many people forget about God. Whether you are a young person, middle aged, or older, you will find Ecclesiastes helpful.

The day is coming when all of us will die, unless Jesus returns first. We can learn much from these words from the world’s wisest man:

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12: 7

Dust to dust; just as God told Adam thousands of years earlier — “Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return (Genesis 3:19).”

The silver cord, whether it is our spinal cord or a spiritual cord that connects us to God, is important to keep in mind. Everyone of us has a spirit (soul) and we will return to God who gave it.

Remember — death awaits us all. Let us live our lives wisely. God, our Judge, awaits.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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